Egg in a Bottle
Can you get an egg inside a bottle without pushing it? With a little science, you can make an egg appear to squeeze itself through a bottle opening!
Ingredients
1 bouncy egg or hard-boiled egg, peeled
1 sturdy, heat-safe glass bottle with an opening slightly smaller than the egg
Hot water
Matches
Heat-resistant gloves
Directions
Find a sturdy, heat-safe glass bottle with an opening slightly smaller than the egg.
Have an adult carefully pour hot (not boiling) water into the bottle and swirl it to warm the air inside.
Have the adult pour out the water and place the bottle upright on a stable, heat-resistant surface.
Quickly position the peeled egg over the bottle's opening, with its narrower end pointing downward.
Watch as the air inside the bottle cools and the egg is gradually pushed through the opening.
An adult can also demonstrate this experiment by dropping a small piece of lit paper into an appropriate heat-safe glass bottle and immediately placing the peeled egg over the opening. This method introduces fire and hot glass, so it should only be performed by an adult using proper fire-safety precautions.
The Science Behind It
When the air inside the bottle warms, it expands and some escapes. As the air cools, the pressure inside decreases. The higher air pressure outside the bottle then pushes the flexible, hard-boiled egg through the opening.
It may look like the bottle is sucking the egg inside, but it's actually the surrounding air doing the work!